Carluke and District News
Camera Club Members of Carluke Camera Club were delighted to present Robert Hendry with a Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) silver medal at their meeting held in St Andrew’s Church hall on Friday of last week. However, the main event was an inter-club competition between Carluke and Edinburgh Photographic Society, several of whose members were welcomed. A total of 30 digital images and 30 prints were presented (15 from each club) and the overall quality was found to be excellent. Clive Turner, from Paisley Photographic Society, judged fairly and gave his expert advice and added more than a little humour to the event. In the end, Carluke narrowly won in both print and digital sections, and Edinburgh graciously conceded defeat though their misery was soothed by a fine presentation of tea and cakes served during the interval. The presentation on Friday evening promises to be a fun night with audience participation in a members’ digital night, for which all members are encouraged to bring along a selection of 15 digital images for impromptu presentation and discussion. As usual, the meeting will be held in St Andrew’s Church hall, at 7.30pm, and new members and visitors are most welcome. Further details of all of the club’s activities can be found on their website at www.carluke-cc.org. Crossroads cafe donation Crossroads cafe presented cheques from the proceeds of their Monday cafe to four individual charities at their regular event held in Kirkton Church on Monday of last week. Over the past 10 years visitors to the cafe have packed the church hall each week to make it one of the most popular lunch dates in the calendar. Each week a team of volunteers arrive at the church hall and prepare for another busy day by serving homemade soups, snacks tea/coffee and lovely home baking to complete another successful morning. There is always a happy buzz around the hall as the regulars and many of their new friends take their seats and enjoy the latest chat from around the town, all served up with a delicious lunch provided by the willing volunteers. The cafe opened over 10 years ago, and in that time on only one day a week, they have successfully raised over £46,000 for a variety of charities. The latest donations handed over at the cafe on Monday of last week were no exception. Marie Curie Cancer Research received £2000, with the local Scottish Autism cafe ‘Cudos’ receiving £1000. The Action Medical Research (Paddington Bear) appeal were presented with a cheque for £1000 towards their latest research programme, and the Hamilton Churches Beckford Street drop-in centre, which provides food and hope for the many homeless around the district received £1000. The donations were handed over by Mrs Linda Johnson, the leader of Crossroads cafe, on behalf of all those invaluable volunteers on her team. Linda was thanked by the representatives from all those charities who had benefited from the cafe’s generosity, and to mark their recent 10 years anniversary, its regular customers and visitors received a free lunch followed by a slice of a special celebration cake to complete the afternoon. Gala update The committee would like to remind everyone that the next gala quiz event will take place in the Rovers Social Club on Saturday of this week, and the young members of the court look forward to welcoming residents in the town to their support their latest venture. The gala committee will be starting their annual door-to-door collections around the